I saw the 8-Bit Alliance Tour last night (Anamanaguchi, Sabrepulse, Henry Homesweet, Starscream) and while I enjoyed the big name acts like Anamanaetc and Sabrepulse, I found in Starscream exactly what I think is missing from most 8-Bit. There are only two members and they appear to be quite young and look and act like what I assume is the typical fan of chiptune (scrawny body, somewhat nerdy appearance and certain meek subtleties like constantly looking down while they play and dancing in awkward form), yet somehow this unassuming duo rocked my fucking block off. No shit.

I like most of what is going on with 8-Bit music just fine, but like I said, there is always something missing for me personally. I can listen to a few songs or I can listen to one musician's album and then I have to move on, only to revisit the genre a week or so later and usually for the same short amount of time. Anamanaguchi brought something new with two guitars, a bass and drums, giving you the full sound and look of a rock band that makes watching chiptune in person not a bit weird at all. Sabrepulse has the energy, charisma and charm to give off a party vibe and once again, makes watching "video game music" live not so strange. But both of them still don't really move me. I enjoy them but, well, they're no Starscream.

What Starscream brings to the table is the influence of certain styles of music not normally incorporated in 8-Bit, such as Post-Rock. Throw in some jazzy discord and tons of energy and cook at 328 degrees for 20 minutes and... voilà! Finally some 8-Bit that I don't just like, but I love!

I realize that, naturally, since I am an admittedly casual listener of this type of music, I could very well just simply not know about other groups that are making noise very similar to this and/or I could be jumping the gun by exclaiming my love for this particular group when in reality I don't actually know that much about them at all. But, remember, this is only a blog. Not just that, but this is a blog that is barely updated and that no one reads anyway. So...fuck it? I'll go ahead and say right now that Starscream are my favorite 8-Bit group. Let's see what you think of them. Bon appétit!

Download: Starscream-Future, And It Doesn't Work + Remixes

While this EP is already available for free from 8bitpeoples, the version I've uploaded also includes remixes by the likes of Bit Shifter, Starpause, Covox and more.